A Magical Overview

Eons ago, I mentioned how Orlando Magic was equipped with the right personnel this ‘07-’08 regular season and were destined to reach the 46-win plateau, thus ensuring them of a spot in the Playoffs. In fact, I actually said a lot of other things about the Magic, and most of them were positive (A Magical Season and Where Magic Happens).

Well, now that their season is finally over after being crushed by the Pistons, here is a short overview of what the Magic have accomplished through the year, as well as other thoughts the team could and should mull over during the off-season.

The progression of Dwight Howard. Nobody questions the fact that D12 is the anchor that mans the team. However, there were still lots of kinks in his game such as a limited offensive repertoire and free throw shooting that prevented him from totally breaking free as one of the cornerstones of the game.

As the first few months of the season took course, it was clear that Howard is ready to break out and become a bona fide star. Leading the Magic to an impressive 16-4 starts with averages of 23 points and 15 boards, Howard appears to be applying for the role of the next Shaq. He obviously prepared himself and elevated his game to a different level, something that great players do. The only problem that Howard consistently encountered during the season was a lack of another big game that somewhat debilitated his abilities because opponents had him as their target in the paint (more on this later).

Rashard Dealt His Cards Well. For a guy who was signed to a 6-year, $110 million deal, Rashard Lewis may appear like he’s not doing a lot to justify the contract he was granted (18 points and over 40% beyond the arc). But behind the modest numbers, the most dramatic and important thing that Lewis did for the Magic was to move from small forward, his regular position, to power forward.

Obviously undersized and over-matched, Lewis had to fill in the vacant spot left by injured Tony Battie and defend stronger guys like Stoudamire and Garnett, among others. Thus, the “underwhelming” numbers could be explained by the beating he receives on the defensive end of the court. Despite the growing unrest by the critics and fans that he should be going a lot more for the team, i.e. scoring in bunches, Lewis simply played ball. He never complained or moped about his role or the respect he must have been hearing around. A class act, indeed.

Turkoglu’s Ascent To Stardom Nobody saw this coming, just like the Suns trading for Shaq. However, unlike what the Suns experienced with Shaq, Orlando was in for a pleasant surprise when Hedo Turkoglu broke out with career highs on every statistical category. Perhaps slated as a third option behind Howard and Lewis, Turkoglu found himself shooting the last shot in the final quarter with the game on the line, and making most of them. In fact, his average of 6 points every fourth quarter during the regular season is one of the tops for the year. However, if there’s any knock on Turkoglu’s game, it has got to be his persistence of using his right hand to lay the shot in regarding of which direction he’s coming from.

Stan’s The Man. What were the Magic thinking when they signed Billy Donovan from the University of Florida to coach the team? Old wisdom states that a college coach handling a bunch of millionaire misfits to win basketball games is a recipe for disaster. Hence, Donovan’s change of heart to return coaching Florida basketball was a sigh of relief. Now the team could get a real coach, one who has experience and has a winning pedigree.

From all the available coaches during that time, none of them came as highly recommended as Stan Van Gundy, who, during his previous stint in Miami, was manning a winning club, just before the evil Pat Riley usurped the coaching throne from him. After half a year’s worth of regular season basketball, Van Gundy is coaching a 54-win squad and had them playing like hungry underdog looking for recognition come Playoff time.

A Big Man Short. The only real weakness that Orlando had, aside from experience, Dwight’s free throw shooting, and inadequate guard play (at times), is the lack of a reliable big man who can take off pressure from Dwight in the paint. This fact was highly revealed with how the Pistons frustrated the Magic with their physical play, and how Detroit’s abundance of highly-skilled big men limited Dwight’s effectiveness inside the paint.

The role of Dwight’s sidekick was supposed to be assumed by Tony Battie, but he was out the rest of the season due to injury. Orlando GM Otis Smith could’ve have struck gold if it was able to pry Kurt Thomas off Seattle, but the Spurs proved to be a much attractive lure that Thomas bit on. This off-season, the front office should look for ways to obtain a viable big man that could eventually bring the Magic deeper into the Playoffs, even if it means trading for fan favorite J.J. Redick or their starting point guard Jameer Nelson, who sometimes prove to be inconsistent for his own good.

Other Intangibles. Aside from the obvious, there were also other questions that the team has to answer. First, how will they address the shooting guard position? Although “Mogans,” the twosome of Maurice Evans and Keith Bogans, are interchangeable guard capable of playing off one another, they do not exactly strike fear in the hearts of the opponents. Also, in the development of the Magic’s future, should they also include Reddick in the plans? This Duke alumni is more than capable of filling up the scoreboard, but has unfortunately not fallen into the favor of Van Gundy, who aims for a more defensive and a well-defined inside-outside game. Lastly, how would Howard build upon his MVP-type season? It’s obvious that he needs more variety in his moves to the basket, something that the NBA should watch out for should he develop his offensive game even more.

All in all, the Magic simply exceeded expectations.Personally, I would have preferred Orlando taking Detroit to the limit simply because they could, but misfortunes and inexperience ultimately contributed to their downfall. Still, a highly entertaining season for a team who finally advance to the second round of the Playoffs since 1996. Here’s to more Magic in the future.